More than one fourth of Indian employees are worried about their financial future

Mumbai: Financial wellness drives employee performance by boosting their confidence. Future financial worries lead rising stress, lower productivity and disengagement. In India more than one fourth of employees (28) are regularly worried about their financial future, according to findings from the 2015/2016 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey by Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company. More than two-fifths of Asia Pacific employees (43%) are uncertain on their future financial health.

The more financial woes mean less productivity. The research report finds almost one in four workers in Asia Pacific (23%) admitted that their financial problems negatively impact their lives. The Willis Towers Watson 2015/2016 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey covered the views of more than 9,000 employees in Asia Pacific across 19 countries.

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“While the financial situation is improving for many employees, long-term financial worries weigh over job performance,” said Andrew Heard, Head of Retirement — Asia Pacific at Willis Towers Watson. “Many employees struggle with long-term financial planning and have lack of awareness about what a comfortable retirement will require in terms of savings.”

In India 47% of respondents said they are not worried about their financial future while 12% admitted they are struggling both in short term and long term financial wellness. Nearly 28% employees in India responded they have current financial worries which are near term in nature while 16% of total respondents are worried about their long term financial prospects.

Financial woes weigh on employee productivity: The study finds that more than two-thirds of employees (68%) with current worries say that money concerns negatively impact their on-the-job performance (compared to only 13% of those who are unworried). Financial worries are highly correlated with stress as out of employees who are struggling (experiencing both current as well as long-term worries), 73% of employees say that they have high or above average stress levels. This compares with only 30% of those who are unworried.

Higher levels of both absenteeism and presenteeism are visible in employees with financial concerns. The report mentions that those who are struggling financially say they lose 3.7 days per year to absence and 12.8 days per year due to reduced work productivity, compared to 3.1 and 8.8 days respectively, for those who enjoy financial well being.